DENVER – Vince Carter made a mockery of the West’s sleepwalking defense late in the second quarter last night at Pepsi Center.

The Nets superstar threw the ball off the backboard and charged in after the carom, grabbing it in midair and flushing it down. The West’s Tim Duncan stood like a statue as Carter leaped over him for the ball. A red-faced Gregg Popovich looked furious.

It was the beginning of the end for the West, which, with Shaquille O’Neal no longer on its side, played with little focus or desire, even by All-Star standards.

Carter’s was one of the lone individual highlights on a night the East brought a little teamwork to the event, leaving most pundits scratching their heads to come up with an MVP Award in the final minutes. It was the first time since 1981 no player scored 20 points.

The East, a 61/2-point underdog, whipped the West, 125-115, and was never threatened in the fourth quarter in an arena often as quiet as an elevator ride between Kobe Bryant and Shaq.

Starting point guard Allen Iverson of the Sixers won MVP for playing with a pass-first mentality, ensuring the ball was shared. The East’s victory broke a three-game losing streak, no surprise with change of sides by the Heat’s O’Neal (12 points, 25 minutes).

“My job was to keep everyone loose in the locker room, said O’Neal, who gave a pregame pep talk at coach Stan Van Gundy’s urging.

It was a night of continued frigidity between Bryant and O’Neal. Before tip-off, virtually every player exchanged greetings, except the former Lakers teammates. When asked what conversations he had with Shaq, Kobe said: “None. Simple answer. I’m not going to make this weekend about me and Shaquille. It’s not fair. Even when we played together we weren’t best of friends and we won three titles.”

Iverson scored 15 points with 10 assists and five steals. When commissioner David Stern presented Iverson the award, he rehashed those numbers but carefully left out seven turnovers and 4 of 14 shooting. This was no classic.

“I wasn’t thinking about dunking at all in the game,” said Carter, who had 11 points in 18 minutes and says he’s ready for a Nets playoff push, beginning with a game against his old Raptors tomorrow. “It’s one of those things that just happened. . . . The highlight of all highlights is getting the win.”

The East went on a 23-3 run in the second quarter to erase a 42-29 deficit and grab control of the game.

Maybe Van Gundy deserved MVP for having the East play as a team, even though the Heat coach still gets no respect. An NBA flack mistakenly announced “Jeff Van Gundy” would be in the media room after the game.

“I think Allen was great more than anything he kept pushing other guys, energizing them,” Van Gundy said. “He really wanted to win.”

Said Iverson, “The game is much easier when you have four other All Stars. You don’t get double-teamed all night.”

During player intros, Bryant was the only player booed. The arena is a mere 45 minutes from the hotel room in Eagle, Colo., in which Bryant was charged with sexual assault – a case recently dropped.

“I’m just happy to be here, blessed to be in this game,” said Bryant, forced to play point guard and scoring 16 points with seven assists. “[Being booed] makes it pretty uncomfortable for five seconds.”

On the flip side, his feuding partner, O’Neal got the loudest ovation and did a hysterical dance on the platform, rubbing his belly, resembling a 340-pound diva.

“When you take Shaq out of the West and into the East, nine times out of 10 you can say the East is stronger,” Iverson said.